I think we all have that little black dress that we feel good in, and maybe you even have a little section of your closet that’s designated for the clothes that make you look and feel your best. (I know I do, even though it’s a very small section!) What I also have, is a foundation “wardrobe”. I have a drawer in my makeup area that is designated to hold just the foundations and primers that make my skin look and feel its best, depending on the occasion. I feel like in that department, Laura Mercier is the foundation expert.

I have a favorite designer that makes jeans and dresses that fit my body the way I like, and Laura Mercier is one of my favorite “designers” that creates complexion and makeup pieces that suit my skin perfectly—depending on my mood, desired look, and occasion. Let’s take a closer look at those complexion faves of mine!

For me, it all first starts with a foundation primer. I love…

Foundation Primer Radiance — This adds the most gorgeous, flattering pearl glow to the skin without going overboard. As I age, I think the key to keeping my skin looking youthful, is to keep it looking radiant. This primer does the trick! It adds a pretty soft-focus glow to my skin, and I prefer to wear it with foundations that give full coverage, so that my skin doesn’t look dry or “flat”. It’s a neat little trick, especially if contouring and highlighting isn’t your thing! ($33)

Foundation Primer — Laura Mercier’s original Foundation Primer is an easy, no frills, lightweight gel that you apply prior to any foundation to keep the color of your foundation true, and to promote beautiful, long wear. I love this under her Tinted Moisturizer, because it doesn’t add any weight to my skin—especially because I reach for the Tinted Moisturizer when I’m looking for protection and lighter coverage. It feels and looks invisible, but keeps everything in place. ($33)

In the foundation/coverage department, I choose…

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer — When it comes to tinted moisturizer, I don’t think there are any better than Laura Mercier! I’ve been wearing it for decades! I prefer the original version—it has the perfect amount of hydration, SPF 20 protection, and color payoff on my skin. It offers light coverage, but is totally buildable. I love the natural, healthy dewy look it gives my skin, and makes my skin look polished in just seconds. My shade in the Tinted Moisturizer is Blush. ($43)

The key to a flawless face is applying foundation and coverage products only where you need them, to get the most natural look. Also, try working with your fingers since they often make the best tools! You don’t need any special applicators or brushes while applying these products.

Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide — This is the newest innovation in the Laura Mercier complexion line, and it’s so beautiful! Naturally matte and oil-free, you’ll want to shake this dual-phase liquid for at least 10 seconds. Then, apply just a few drops on the back of your hand and apply with fingertips, blending from the middle of your face, out. A little of this product goes a LONG way to blur imperfections. It’s very pigmented and it doesn’t take a lot of it to get coverage. I love that nearly any skin type can wear this formula since it’s so forgiving. If I want full coverage, I apply it directly with my fingers. If I want to tone it down a little bit, I’ll moisten a sponge and softly blend it out to sheer it down just a touch. With 24 shades available, I just know you’ll find a match! My shade is Ivory. ($48)

A few other Laura Mercier goodies to complement your flawless face…

Laura Mercier Lip Glacé — These high-shine and nicely pigmented glosses aren’t sticky, and they feel great on my lips. They suit all skin tones and offer long-lasting color and shine. ($25)

left to right: Rosegold, Amethyst, and Tuxedo

Caviar Stick Eye Colour — Eyeshadow does not get any easier than this! These creamy color sticks are available in 23 beautiful hues and glide along the eyelid smoothly for long-wearing color. Try sheering them out with a fingertip for a sheer wash of color, or you can even wear them under powdered shadows to anchor them to the skin. I especially love Rosegold—what a beautiful everyday shade! ($28)

left to right: Spiced Rose, Créme Coral, Red Amour

Créme Smooth Lip Colour — The ultimate in comfortable lipstick, this luxe formula gives me full coverage in a single swipe, without the pigment drying my lips after several hours of wear. Very creamy, and long-wearing! ($27)

The finishing touch…

Full Blown Volume Supreme Mascara — I can really build up the volume and length with this, without any clumping! It also holds a curl to my otherwise flat lashes all day, sans flaking. Available in black, I think it looks shiny and voluminous on my puny lashes! I’m wearing it in both full-face photos above. ($25)

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Laura Mercier through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Laura Mercier, all opinions are my own.

My FedEx guy did a real bang up job on getting these to me in time to properly photograph and swatch the new goodies from Tarte’s Beauty Without Boundaries (8-piece set) QVC Today’s Special Value for you. They arrived so late last night, that I didn’t have time to do a full breakdown, but I still wanted to share the scoop—because at just $59.96, it IS a good deal—for today only! And it’s cute, right? [Read more…]

You know those products that have such a cult following, that people call them their “holy grail” products? This is one that time and time again, I’ve heard the term “HG status”, enthusiastically spoken by both professional makeup artists, and bathroom counter beauty junkies alike—Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish.

Why on earth it took me four years to make it my own holy grail product, heaven only knows. But I finally fell into the lure of Purely Cosmetics’ spell, as the founder and creator of all the products, Robyn Bloom tells me that she personally and painstakingly formulates and blends all of her products herself—no loose mineral repackaging here. Purely Cosmetics has an excellent reputation in the indie mineral makeup industry, and I can see why. Everything I’ve tried has been fantastic thus far.

What makes Diamond Perfect Finish so special, is that it’s a talc-free finishing powder that is so finely milled that it’s whisper soft on the skin, and even contains diamond powder. While I’d like to say that the diamond powder is for the glitz and glamour (but hey–why not for that, too!), it actually lends an ability to the product to bend and refract light, allowing a special light spectrum to show through that not only looks great in everyday light sources, but photographs incredibly beautiful. [Read more…]

BB Cream: The Kiehl’s way….

In a world full of BB creams, believe me when I tell you that I wasn’t exactly knocking down doors trying to find a new one. It seems EVERY brand has one, and it looks like the BB cream has spawned the birth of the CC cream, even now…the DD cream. (Yikes.) You know I had to find this new one from Kiehl’s pretty dang special to bring it your way!

Kiehl’s Skin Tone Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream

Fresh on the scene is the Skin Tone Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream with SPF 50. As a leading innovator in the skincare industry, I’m actually surprised that Kiehl’s didn’t launch one sooner—but I also see why they didn’t. True to Kiehl’s fashion, they do things right, or not at all. And it really shows with their BB cream release. [Read more…]

See 8 of the greats, and enter to win a $50 CVS/pharmacy gift card!

With so many BB creams flooding the market lately, I know it can be pretty confusing. Whether you call it a “beauty balm”, a “blemish balm” or just good old “BB cream”, I’m here to help make your next trip to the drugstore a little easier with eight BB picks for every skincare need (and budget). All of these picks are available at CVS/pharmacy, and they’re all products I’ve put through the ringer in the last few months. The cool thing about shopping at CVS for your beauty loot, is that for every $50 spent on qualifying beauty products, you receive $5 ExtraBucks Rewards! And with the CVS Beauty Guarantee, you can pick up your BB cream of choice, test it out—and if you don’t like it, return it within 60 days for a full refund.

While you’re here, don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a $50 CVS/pharmacy gift card at the end!

I hope you find a BB cream you love from these top drugstore picks:

Lumene Vitamin C+ Illuminating Anti-Age BB Cream SPF 20

When it comes to drugstore BB creams, I’ve found this one from Lumene to be the closest in consistency to its Asian BB cream ancestors. A clear favorite among U.S. BB cream connoisseurs, this gives the coverage of a medium foundation, smooths the skin like a primer, and protects the skin like a skincare product with Vitamin C and an SPF 20. Available in two shades, and retails for $14.99. [Read more…]

Does it all?

I hope this doesn’t come across as a little snotty, but when I’m looking for a great foundation, the drugstore isn’t usually the first place I head to. While I’ve found excellent BB creams at the drugstore, when I’m looking for that full-coverage, stay all day foundation—to Sephora I go! When COVERGIRL released their new Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation, I said—let’s see just how fabulous this really is!

COVERGIRL Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation

A little bit of scoop on this new COVERGIRL innovation:

It’s designed to meet the needs of primer, concealer, and a stay-all-day shine-free foundation, all while providing an SPF 20. Sounds impossible, right? It’s available in a range of 14 shades (even more impressive), and has a topography modifier to balance oils and keep the skin matte. Even better, it stays flexible, so that it mimics the skin and feels lightweight. [Read more…]

Last month, I experienced what’s new from Prescriptives—their Custom Blend Video Service. It’s the first time I’ve ever tried anything like this, so needless to say, I was pretty excited about it. Custom Blend Video Service is unique, in that you actually chat with a live person online via webcam, and you also provide them a photograph that shows your skin color most accurately. Based on the answers from your consultation and your photograph, your Px Beauty Genius will then create the perfect shade for you. It’s very cool, and very easy!

my Prescriptives Custom Blend Foundation shade

The foundation is fully customizable—I went for medium coverage, and I even had a finish option (radiance) and a skincare option (brightens, clarifies and evens) added. There are other finishes and skincare options available to suit your needs. The consultations are done by appointment only, and they’re free. You’ll receive a custom blend “recipe”, then you add your recipe online to your Prescriptives account, and you purchase the foundation there. It took about seven days for mine to arrive, and I think for custom blending, that’s pretty quick. [Read more…]

I always get excited for tarte goodies, but even more so when they turn out to be a QVC Today’s Special Value! Just launched on QVC for a special price on 2/5, meet the Journey to Natural Beauty Collection. This 6-piece assortment is valued at over $165, but can be snatched up for a steal at just $59.94. Ready to take a closer look to see if it’s for you? Let’s go!

pieces from the tarte ‘Journey to Natural Beauty’ Collection

This set combines the best of both worlds, with both existing tried and true tarte favorites, and brand new product innovations and shades in a gorgeous woven makeup bag in a colorful chevron pattern.

Finally, a real BB Cream!

I’ve been testing a lot of BB creams lately, but they’ve been more like tinted moisturizers with sunscreen. There’s nothing wrong with that—but when you’re looking for a BB cream, you really expect just that—a BB cream. Well, good news. I found one! Amarté was created in Korea and based in part on centuries old philosophies. Developed at a Bio Regional Innovation Center using leading science, the formula was discovered by American dermatologist, Dr. Kraffert, and introduced to the West.

Amarte Natural Finish BB Cream in Light Tint

Which leads me to introduce you to my new obsession, the Amarté Natural Finish BB Cream. The line is just getting its big break here in the U.S., so I expect to see more from them in the future; I also hear their skincare is phenomenal because it’s based on eastern philosophies, with American technologies to back it. [Read more…]